Retired players won’t get in the way of a settlement

The bad news is that it remains to be seen whether four high-profile current players will prevent a new labor deal from being finalized. The good news is that the thousand of retired players won’t.

Hall of Fame defensive end Carl Eller, the lead plaintiff in a class action filed by former players, told Albert Breer of NFL Network that the retired players won’t stand in the way of a settlement of the current labor dispute. Eller, who along with lawyer Michael Hausfeld were given a better-late-than-never seat at the table on Tuesday, also said he believe a new deal is coming this week.

Whether that new deal fully addresses the concerns of retired players remains to be seen. Eller told Breer that there’s more work to be done, and that it may happen after the current players and the league reach an accord.

Perhaps the league can close the deal with the retired players by offering never to use the franchise tag against any of the other named plaintiffs in the Eller lawsuit.